What it is
Movies in the dark. The TV will be used for watching movies in a controlled environment, directly in front, in a home theater way. Mostly only high quality content, like Blu-rays, UHD Blu-rays, streaming and a little bit of HDR.

What it is
TV Shows in a bright living room. The TV will be used in to watch TV shows, in a bright room during the day, from multiple viewing positions at different angles. The content watched has an average quality: cable, streaming, SD channels, etc.

What it is
Video games. The TV will be used to play video games, directly in front, in a controlled light environment. Usually fast games, like online FPS, where motion blur and input lag is important.

What it is
HDR Gaming. The TV will be used to play HDR video games using consoles that support it or on current generation gaming PCs. Xbox One S, PS4 Pro, GTX 10 series and AMD RX series graphics cards.

The Vizio D Series 4k UHD LED TV is a good budget TV that delivers better than average picture quality. Its aesthetic won't win anyone over, but it handles motion very well and is very responsive. It lacks some of the features found on higher end TVs but performs quite well - as long as it is viewed from directly in front. In a room setup where you will be viewing the TV from the side, the Vizio D loses a lot of its appeal. Note: this review is for the 4k UHD variant of the D Series. We reviewed the 1080p version separately here.

Design

The Vizio D Series 4k won't impress with its looks or thinness. In fact, it might remind you of the look of old LCD TVs, minus the very large borders. Before you buy, make sure you have a table that is broad enough to accommodate the wide stand.

Stand

When using the stand, the TV leans a little bit toward the back.
Footprint of the 50" TV stand: 10" x 39.2"

Back

Wall Mount
:
Vesa 200x200

Although the TV is thick, its back connections are arranged so there are no wires that can stick out from the back. It can then be mounted flush on a wall.

The Vizio D 4k 2016 delivers above average picture quality. Even in a totally dark room, dark scenes look great and uniform. Unfortunately, the picture is a little soft when watching DVDs and cable TV. It lacks many of the features found on higher end TVs such as local dimming. Unfortunately it doesn't get very bright and the picture quality diminishes when viewed from the side.

Good value:
Full-array/direct lighting is better for local dimming. As for the uniformity of the screen, it depends on the implementation. Some edge-lit TVs have more uniform blacks than some full-array TVs.

Local dimming really didn't work well on this TV, even though it has a full-array backlight. You don't see any blooming, even though the zones are really big, because the overall picture darkens too much.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity the TV can obtain while playing a movie or while watching a TV show. This scene was selected to represent a more regular movie condition. All measurement are made with the TV set to be as bright as possible, but with a 6500k white. Measured with local dimming, max backlight and over SDR signal. Scene: here.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 2% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

When it matters:
Bright highlights, present on screen for a short time; especially for SDR content.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 10% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

When it matters:
Bright objects, present on screen for a short time; especially for SDR content.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 25% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 50% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 100% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 2% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

When it matters:
Bright highlights, persistent throughout a scene; especially for SDR content.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 10% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

When it matters:
Bright objects, persistent throughout a scene; especially for HDR content.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 25% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 50% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 100% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

The SDR peak brightness was tested with local dimming on, and this has the effect of reducing the peak brightness on the smaller sized windows. Turn off the local dimming if you want to have the same brightness on all window sizes.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity the TV can obtain while playing a movie or while watching a TV show. This scene was selected to represent a more realistic movie condition. All measurement are made with the TV set to be as bright as possible, but with a 6500k white. Measured with local dimming, max backlight and over HDR signal. Scene: here.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 2% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

When it matters:
Bright highlights, present on screen for a short time; especially for HDR content.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 10% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

When it matters:
Bright objects, present on screen for a short time; especially for HDR content.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 25% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 50% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 100% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 2% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

When it matters:
Bright highlights, persistent throughout a scene; especially for HDR content.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 10% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

When it matters:
Bright objects, persistent throughout a scene; especially for HDR content.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 25% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 50% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 100% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

Like most LED TVs, the uniformity of the screen isn't good and dark patches can be seen whenever the camera pans over playing surfaces like ice or grass. The small number of LEDs in the full-array backlight doesn't help here.

The Vizio D displays 480p softer than most other TVs do. Increasing Sharpness to 20 and activating the 'Reduce Noise' setting fixed most of this problem. It looks softer than even the 1080p equivalent of the D Series (see review).

Motion

The Vizio D Series 4k LED is a good TV for content with fast motion. It is able to produce clear picture even when there is very fast movement. Movies play smoothly via a blu-ray player or with the in-built apps. It is a 60Hz panel and so can only interpolate 30Hz content.

The response time is good and the result is clear fast motion. The trail following the moving logo in our test is short. The down transitions are a bit slower than the up transitions, which results in an orange tone between the letters of our logo.

This TV isn't able to completely remove judder. 'Reduce Judder' does reduce the amount of judder on 24p content, but still couldn't remove it completely. Update: Enabling 'Game Low Latency' solved the 24p issue, but still not over 60p or 60i.

Vizio advertise this TV as a '120Hz Effective Refresh Rate' which is more of a marketing term. The Vizio D 4k 2016 is in fact a 60Hz TV and as such, can only interpolate content with a refresh rate of 30Hz and lower, using the 'Reduce Judder' setting. Cable TV and streaming services that run at 60Hz won't be able to use the soap opera effect.

Inputs

The Vizio D Series 4k has exceptional input lag. Unfortunately if it supported more resolutions and frame rates as inputs, it would get a better result. It has a variety of inputs though which should be enough for most people.

This is the lowest input lag we have measured on a TV so far. The time it takes for the TV to respond to a controller input is extremely low. Any serious gamers, even those playing competitively, should be pleased with the Vizio D. To get the input lag to a minimum, we had to use the 'Game' picture mode and the HDMI 5 input. For the HDMI 1, the 1080p input lag under game mode (with 'Game Low Latency' on) is 42.2ms.

Sound Quality

The Vizio D Series UHD TV doesn't get very loud. It is also lacking in terms of bass. Overall, it does a decent job, but you will definitely need to buy an external sound system if you care about sound.

Note: Sound Quality test for TVs reviewed before 2017 was performed at 75dB, 85dB, and Max SPL. Starting 2017, the target SPL levels have been changed to 70dB, 80dB, and Max dB SPL.

High distortion. Even though the TV doesn't get loud (barely reaching 85dB SPL), the distortion level is quite high. It should also be noted that the plasticky frame of the TV shakes and rattles quite noticeably under loud and full-range content.

Smart Features

The smart features of the Vizio D Series aren't that advanced, but cover the basics. Although functional, there is no fancy remote that comes with the TV, either. There is a good number of inputs, though.

Apps

Most popular apps are available, including Netflix, Amazon Video, and YouTube. HBO Go is missing, and there is no web browser.

The only button you have on the TV is on the back left of the TV. It can power on the TV and change inputs.

Remote

Remote
:
Basic

Model #: XRT122

In The Box

- Remote
- Batteries
- Manuals

Misc

Power Consumption
:
80 W

Power Consumption (Max)
:
165 W

Firmware
:
1.13.15

Differences between Sizes and Variants

The Vizio D Series 4K TV that we bought is the 50" with SKU D50u-D1. We expect our review to be valid for the 40" (D40u-D1), 55" (D55u-D1), 58" (D58u-D3) and 65" (D65u-D2). It is not valid for the 1080p variations of the Vizio D Series which we reviewed separately here.

If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Vizio D Series doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review.

The Vizio D Series 4k 2016 performs quite well across the board and excels in gaming performance for those after a 4k TV on a budget. For those that don't require a 4k TV, it is very similar to the Vizio D Series 1080p 2016 which is available at a lower price.

The Vizio E Series 4k 2016 we reviewed has similar performance for watching movies, however doesn't perform as well for sports and video games due to the higher motion blur and input lag. If you're choosing between these two then go with the Vizio D Series 4k 2016.

The Samsung KU6300 is a bit more pricey, but can achieve a brighter image especially with highlights. For video games however, the Vizio D Series 4k 2016 series is a clear winner and the picture quality of the Samsung KU6300 isn't enough of an improvement to justify the higher price.

Although the TCL US5800 lacks some features such as local dimming and motion interpolation, the Roku smart interface is more intuitive and feature-packed. For movies and TV the picture quality is quite similar, however gamers should stick to the Vizio D Series 4k 2016 for the lower input lag and motion blur.

The Vizio D Series 1080p 2016 performs very similarly to the 4k model, just with a lower resolution panel. It has slightly higher input lag so more serious gamers may prefer the Vizio D Series 4k 2016. For those that don't watch 4k content or use the TV as a PC monitor, the Vizio D Series 1080p 2016 provides the same experience at a lower price, with a huge range of TV sizes to choose from.

Good TV for mixed usage. Picture quality is above average, and motion is handled very well. Very low input lag which is great. Unfortunately the picture diminishes from the side and it lacks features found on high end TVs.

What it is
Movies in the dark. The TV will be used for watching movies in a controlled environment, directly in front, in a home theater way. Mostly only high quality content, like Blu-rays, UHD Blu-rays, streaming and a little bit of HDR.

What it is
TV Shows in a bright living room. The TV will be used in to watch TV shows, in a bright room during the day, from multiple viewing positions at different angles. The content watched has an average quality: cable, streaming, SD channels, etc.

What it is
Video games. The TV will be used to play video games, directly in front, in a controlled light environment. Usually fast games, like online FPS, where motion blur and input lag is important.

Please, can you review the Hisense 2016 4K TVs? They are set at a reasonable price, plus having HDR with and without the local dimming. I would like to see how they match up against the other brands. I'm trying to get as much 4K TVs for my home that have really great qualities without breaking the bank. After watching videos of CES 2016, I'm eager to see in depth reviews of the Hisense and Sharp line up. I really think, I might find some gems from those line up at reasonable price, in the 65"-70" range.

If you re-review the 2015 Vizio M-series I bet you will find that the motion blur of that TV has improved to meet or exceed the abilities of the 2016 D-series. The recent firmware updates that you have ignored have greatly improved the performance of the 2015 Vizio M-series for motion blur, motion interpolation, local dimming, and color adjustments.
Those are all things that you knocked the M-series for and yet you refused to revisit that TV when they were corrected. Instead you immediately re-reviewed all of the Samsung and Sony TVs every time they got new firmware.

We still have our M60-C3, and often keep going back to it to see if a firmware update improved it. Unfortunately, the motion blur is still an issue. Checkout this picture.

At the top, our M60-C3. At the bottom, the D50u-D1. You can see the faint long trail at the left of the logo on the M. The trail is a few inches long (about the same length as the logo), and has a light blue color. (Note: This picture was taken on a cellphone, so the quality isn't as good as our other pictures. The trail is even more apparent in real life).

This is something a firmware update will never be able to solve. The issue is with the pixel response time, where the M60-C3 has a very long overshoot. Firmware updates don't affect response time.

There is only one TV that we ever re-reviewed completely: the Vizio P602ui-B3. For all the other ones, we always use the same rule: we redo a test if a firmware update changed a test result. This is pretty rare, no matter the brand. On the M60-C3, we did update a few things, like the soap opera effect bug that it originally had.

This model was considered as black friday model and was suggested to stay out of it in Deals section. But now after the review score looks like this model is better than many other models reviewed. Please let us know if anything changed.

We are indeed surprised. We didn't expect the Vizio D to perform that well. Turns out, it wasn't a Black Friday model after all: Vizio issued a press release mid December to announce it part of its lineup. It does feel cheap though, and its picture quality doesn't match mid range or higher end model from other brands. But for the price, it is great buy.

Hey! Thank you for your great website! I am deciding between the UN55J6200 and the 55" D series. Which would you recommend? We watch a lot of movies and Netflix, but I also play video games. Help!

Go for the D-series. The picture is very good for everything you want to watch, and you'll appreciate the very minimal input lag. The D-series also gets quite a lot brighter, so it's easier to watch is bright spaces

I have had this set for a few months, and while I realize that it is a budget set, I have noticed two issues that have me questioning whether or not I should seek a warranty replacement.
First, the grey uniformity seems really bad. There are several really distinct vertical and horizontal bands of light that can be seen with most content.
Second, when watching channels with a permanent bug or video crawl [CNN, MSNBC, etc.] the bugs and crawls will "burn-in" and be visible when viewing other channels. The images will go away after a couple of hours but I have never noticed this before on other LCD TVs. Is this normal?
Thank you.

The issue with gray uniformity sounds unusually bad. With any LCD TV there are uniformity issues, but these should not be very visible when watching normal content.

As for the image retention, we have seen this on some IPS TVs, but not on our D Series 4k 2016. Which size model do you have?

Love the website! I am trying to decide on a 65" TV for a 18' x 20' room. I saw the new Vizio D-series review is good. I watch sports and cable TV. The D-series review is better than the M-series, but I am worried about the gray uniformity and the viewing angle. Which one of these two do you think would be better? Is there another option that you would recommend? Should I wait to see what other companies have to offer as they release new TVs this spring? Thanks for your time.

Both have poor upscaling of low resolutions, and since cable channels are often 720p, that means neither is a great option for what you're looking to do. Also, for the size of your room, 4k probably wouldn't matter much unless you sit close (less than 10-12 feet). The Samsung UN65J6300 would be a better pick if you are farther away. The picture quality is very good overall, and the upscaling is better.
For what you're looking to do, it's doubtful that a significantly better option will come along this year (and it will almost definitely be pricier), so you might as well go for the Samsung.

Looking for a 55 inch prefer 4K & HDR but not necessary, either 4K or HDR. Tried a Sony 850D & hated Android. Need "chicken feet" legs vs single mid-positioned stand. I know Vizio seems to be bitten by the Google/Android bug. Is this TV Android or ChromeCast. I choose to avoid both. It would be nice if the OS was highlighted in the reviews. Thanks. Love your reviews.

The OS can be seen under the "Software and Inputs" title, as well as photos of the typical usage. The D series 4k uses "Internet Apps Plus", a more thorough description of the OS can be found here.

You reference build quality and 'Looks'. What is the criteria for this? The D series (and most) are just big black rectangles. What makes a TV "pretty"?

This is subjective and also why no points are allowed for build quality and look in our reviews. Still, we always mention a few things about how the TV feels and look in general. For build quality, we usually apply gentle pressure around the frame to see if the plastic wobble or tend to bend. We push a little on the screen to see if there is any gaps between the glass and the frame. We also push the TV a little while on its stand to see how sturdy it is. For aesthetic, we rarely see TVs that look really bad. At most, they look bland. Metal parts sometimes add a nice finish touch. Stands can also change the general look of the TVs. Thin TVs generally look better when hung on a wall too. In the case of the Vizio D, the TV is thick and has a 'blocky' look overall. This has nothing to do with picture quality though and not worth anything in the overall score.

When I look up the specs of this TV it actually states that the refresh rate is 120Hz, not 60Hz as you have listed.

It is misleading. Vizio advertise this TV as a '120Hz Effective Refresh Rate' which isn't the same as the true refresh rate. The Vizio D 4k 2016 has a true refresh rate of 60Hz and as such, cannot interpolate a 60Hz signal up to 120Hz, which we have tested. You can read more about fake refresh rate here. From now on, we will make this clearer in our reviews. Thank you for pointing that out.

I have a question on judder for this TV -- I recently bought the 55 inch version (D55U-D1) instead of the new 2016 E-Series (note: my local Costco had the new E-Series two weeks ago). All of the HD content I have comes streaming from either Netflix or VUDU -- natively through the installed Netflix apps.
Is there judder present? It is connected via the ethernet port using the native apps, so I don't think the information applies.

There is a bug with this TV which requires 'Game Low Latency' to be enabled to not show judder. This is the case with the Netflix app as well, if you enable the setting then there is no judder.

I am looking at purchasing a larger size of D50u-D1 , primarily the 58" D58u-D3. Does the increase in TV size from your reviewed TV changes how much display lag is present or am I safe by buying the larger size TV and expect to see the same amount of display lag?

Usually, you can expect the same spec in different size of the same TV models.

Do you have the input lag/response time results outside of HDMI 5? I need to use HDMI 1 for the arc.

The input lag of HDMI 1 under game mode and with 'Game Low Latency' turned on is 42.2ms and outside game mode is 108.9ms. The response time is related to the panel directly so the HDMI port used does not make any difference.

I have a Vizio D40U-D1 and am looking to upgrade my entertainment system to the Xbox One S as it can support 4k streaming and also upscales games to 4k. Since the TV does not support HDR, I'm a little skeptical about how effective the One S's features will actually be. Any observations on this regard?

You will get some benefits of the better quality content, without the advantages of HDR. As an example, 4k content has a higher bitrate so you will still get better quality streaming than a 1080p system. Allowing the Xbox to do the upscaling may be another advantage. The upscaling of the Vizio D 4k is not the best, and this is more noticeable when watching lower quality content (720p and below). It is reported that the One S provides quite good quality upscaling, so this may help with your home theatre setup.

I noticed that Target sells the D65u-D1, but everywhere else it is the D65u-D2. I looked on Vizio's website and don't see that model anywhere else. Looking at the pictures, the back of the TV looks slightly different. Any idea if this is by chance a different model?

We haven't spot any differences from the specs so it might just be a Target exclusive so the TV can't be price matched. You can expect the two models to be pretty much the same with slight design differences.

How loud does this TV have to get before the rattling that was mentioned becomes a problem? Does this happen with the 1080p version too, because it isn't mentioned in that review.

The rattling most likely won't be a big problem during normal use, since it will be masked by the actual audio content. However, it will be quite noticeable on both models, above 85dB SPL with test tones (sine sweep) that cover the Bass range.

Do the 2016 Vizio D series models support HDR10? I heard that Vizio released as software update to their 2016 4k TVs that enabled them to support this open-source spec as well as Dolby-Vision. Please clarify if you can thanks!

No, the D series does not support any HDR (HDR10 or DV HDR). HDR is for the moment, reserved for higher end models like the M or the P series.

Dolby Vision has an hardware component, so it can't be add by firmware update, unlike HDR10 who is only software dependent

Is it pleasant on the eyes when moving the camera around in games like GTA5 or BO3? For the PS4. Most TVs I find that when I move the camera around the character the area around moves with it and just doesn't keep up smoothly.

This effect may be due to a combination of high input lag and motion blur. The Vizio D Series 4k 2016 is good at both of these things, and so should be pleasing for fast paced games.

I purchased a Vizio D50u-D1 model. It apparently does not support HDR. I also just purchased a Yamaha receiver RX-V681. The receiver supports 4k upscaling and HDR. Will the Vizio display the HDR input if it receives it from the Receiver?

No it won't because it is missing some hardware and software to decode the HDR signal.

On this Vizio D Series would I get a better input lag with clear action on or off?

This does not affect the input lag. It flickers the backlight, to produce a clearer looking image but may be distracting for some people. For lowest input lag, use the HDMI 5 port and enable 'Game Low Latency'.

After reading your recommendation to consider buying the Vizio 65" D series TV instead of the E series, I started looking at their differences. One appears to be the SmartCast app. The Vizio website says SmartCast is available on the E series but not the D series. This seems to be confirmed when I compare the two remotes. Also, the D series has 5 HDMI inputs while the E series has 4 leading me to believe the built-in Chromecast has been assigned to the fifth HDMI port. My question is, do you think the SmartCast app is a good feature of the E series or its absence in the D series is a good reason to buy the D series?
Considering Google just announced the new Chromecast Ultra, I'm thinking it may be best for the Google Cast hardware to be external. Also, the Play Store reviews of the SmartCast app are mixed. Thanks.

There are many differing opinions of the SmartCast platform. It is less intuitive to use than a traditional smart platform, but works almost exactly the same as Chromecast. With the announcement of Chromecast Ultra there isn't much of an advantage in buying the E Series 2016. We recommend the D Series 2016 due to its better picture quality and motion handling.

I saw a D65-Du 2 4k for only $999 at Walmart and thought it was too good to be true. This was a few weeks before the review. I heard it was sub-par and should be avoided. I want a TV mainly for watching Movies and TV shows and I want a 65 in. 4k so the next cheapest option was the Vzio M65-C1. The M65-C1 is $1300, a whopping $300 more than the D65u-D2. After comparing the reviews I'm not sure if the difference between the M65-C1 is worth the extra $300.

It depends. If you are only watching movies and TV shows, the Vizio M is better and worth the extra. For gaming and sports, the D Series is better.

Would you recommend this model over the E Series 4K (2016)? They are very similar in price.

The review for the 2016 E series 4k is being finalized and will be published within the next few days. The E48U-D0 we will review may not be representative of the rest of the series, however did not perform as well as the D series 4k.

There are five (5) HDMI connections. One is 60Hz and the rest are 30Hz. Should I connect my cable box or Blu-ray player to the 60Hz? I read the parts about motion interpolation and 24p playback, but did not see a clear answer. Thank you.

For your cable box or your Blu-ray player, it won't make any difference where you connect it. Since most of the Blu-ray player output at 1080p/24p and cable box output at 1080i/60i, they are both well under the maximum bandwidth of any of those HDMI port. Where it will do a difference, it is when you connect a device that output 4k signal (like a computer). If you want to send a signal of 4k @ 60Hz, you will need to connect in the HDMI port number 5 (60Hz)

You mentioned that the TV has issues with DVD content, making it appear soft. As we watch a lot of DVDs (librarian in the family so it's simple to pick one up at work and bring it home), being able to watch a disc clearly is important to us, even if it is a dying technology. What 55" TVs might be better at handling DVD images?

In the 55" range, the Sony X810C would be a good choice to watch DVDs, as it upscales low quality content better.

It shows that the brightness of the 2% window, 10% window, and 25% window is 94, 142, and 172 respectively. These seem pretty low especially considering the recommended is 400, and the 1080p D series TV starts at 265 on the 2% window and goes up from there. I will be using this TV primarily to play games, but watching the occasional DVD or show over Amazon or Hulu isn't out of the question. Should I be worried about the brightness? Also, you mention how there is an orange tone in between the letters of the logo during the motion blur test, but you never go into how that effects the picture quality during fast action. Is that anything to be worried about, especially when playing games? Also, how bad is the upscaling when watching lower quality content? I've seen the images, but will it be noticeable if I'm sitting about 6-7 feet away? Finally, Xbox 360 and PS3 normally output at native 720p and are upscaled depending on what resolution is chosen on the console. Will these suffer from the same upscaling problems as DVDs? Will it be better to choose 720p on the console or 1080p, or if there is an option (I honestly don't know if there will be) 4k if it shows under detect resolution?

The lower peak brightness values are due to the local dimming darkening the small highlights. This won't be a problem if you turn off local dimming or if you watch movies in a dark room. The orange effect we get in our motion blur test is an effect of how much time the TV takes to switch from the letter color and the background color. Although this effect is interesting in that specific case, this shouldn't be much noticeable while playing video games or watching normal content. Upscaling isn't as good as on other TVs but definitely watchable. We found that increasing sharpness helps a little bit on low resolution content. On the PS3 and Xbox360, select 1080p as the output resolution and you won't experience any problem (4k isn't an option).

I am wanting a 4k HDTV to primarily watch HD cable and stream netflix movies. Hoping to spend $500-$600. What is the best picture available for this cable box, netflix viewing? How bad is the off angle viewing of the D50u-d1? Thx

Go with the TCL 55US5800. It has a better viewing angle, better upscaling of cable TV and the Roku smart interface are superior to the Vizio D 4k series 2016.

I'm looking for a TV that I will use primarily for playing video games on a PS4. 4k is not essential, as I don't know if I'll upgrade to the next model, but would be a plus for future proofing. I don't need the lowest possible input lag (I don't play competitively), but low motion blur would be great. Budget is around $500 and size 40"-50".

1. I'm considering the Vizio D40u-D1 or the Samsung KU6300. Which would you recommend?

2. Are there 1080p TVs that offer better picture quality than these two that I should look at if I don't care about 4k? Thanks a lot, this is a really good website.

Go with the Vizio D 4k. It is a good TV for gaming and the price is relatively better than the Samsung, so you might have a bigger size than what you would get for the same price as the Samsung.

I understand that some video games on the PS3 (and even on current consoles) output at 720 - will this suffer from the same sub par upscaling you mentioned that is visible with cable and DVDs? On the other hand, how "future-proof" will the 4k capabilities be for 4k consoles (like XBox S) - am I better off waiting until HDR becomes more affordable or will the difference not be very noticeable for gaming? Thanks!

Video games consoles are less affected by the sub par upscaling because usually, they will upscale the output to 1080p by themselves, so you don't need to worry about that. For HDR, if you are not in a rush, we suggest waiting a bit, since HDR is still in its infancy and there are still many problems to be address (format war and compatibility issues). There is also a good chance that it is going to be more affordable in the future.

Love the website and the unbiased technical reviews. I was interested in the 50" Vizio D Series. Currently debating between getting the 4k or just the 1080p. TV is used almost exclusively for gaming semi-seriously, and Netflix streaming. Sports during hockey season, but the input will usually be low res (online streams) so it's less important.

The distance that you sit from the TV is more important here. If you sit more than 7' away from the TV, go with the Vizio D series 1080p.

I just bought a Vizio D40U-D1 4K & when watching Netflix or cable the TV does alright. I also have a Samsung UD590 Series 28" 4K UHD Monitor, LG 32" & A 55" Insignia. I really like the Vizio D's Input Lag. But the Motion blur is horrible! Especially when playing Xbox One. 60Fps, 30fps it doesn't seems to matter the motion blur is so noticeable I cant focus on the game. Even just panning around in the Xbox One Dashboard I get really bad drag (Motion Blur) from the colors, or anything with a sharp line. Mostly when there is a high contrast. It almost seems like the image gets doubled for just a split second. Now the reason I mention all my other TV's is aside from my Vizio I don't see this issue on any other TV or monitor in my house. Granted my Samsung monitor only has a 1.0ms response time, But even on my older LG, Insignia, Huar, the issue is still sorta there but nowhere near noticeable. Is the TV faulty? I understand LCD & L.E.D inherently have this problem. the response time on this TV seems to be good based on the reviews you made. Even when compared to my other TV's the response time & overshoot on the Vizio D Are still better. Also I understand fake refresh rates but Best Buy does false advertise the Vizio D 4K they list the refresh rate as 120Hz. It doesn't say Effective Refresh Rate, rather Just refresh rate. In fact every Vizio TV on BestBuy.com the Specifications page looks different in every way.
If I record my TV with my phone & watch it back & pause it you can clearly see the "Doubled Image"
When playing games this just looks like ghost lines whenever you pan the camera. Anything moving way too fast looks doubled around the edges.
But my question I guess is,
Is this normal for this TV to be this bad with motion blur or is my unit defective?
Are there any other TVs around 400$ With a better response time?
Thanks!
Dan

That's unusual, and definitely not the case with the D50u-D1 we reviewed. It is possible that the 40" version you bought has a panel or LCD driver which responds differently. Unfortunately recording with a phone isn't the best way to identify motion blur, as if the frame rate of the camera is out of sync, or lower than the 60Hz of the TV you will always see a double image. You can quickly indentify the motion blur independently with the 'UFO Test' found here. A good TV at 40" will have a trail that is less than an inch long. Another option for a 40" TV for 4k gaming is the TCL FS3800. This performed worse than the D50u-D1 we reviewed but may be an improvement over the 40" variant you bought.

I purchased the 40" model of this TV. I'm having an issue where the image will freeze on the screen but the audio will still be playing. If I shut the TV off the image will remain on screen for 5-10 seconds then disappear, turning the TV back on after it works fine until it does it again. After the image freezes if I let it sit there, after about a minute the TV will reset itself. Was this ever a problem during any of your testing? Any idea what could cause this problem?

We haven't experienced this during our testing, and it sounds like an issue with the TV. Contact Vizio for support information.

I heard people having experienced dropout with the screen so does it goes to black while playing video games or blu-ray players? I've seen videos on YouTube.

We did not notice any dropout with the model we reviewed. There was a bug with the PS4 Pro firmware version 4.05 that made it not display an image when used with some 4K TVs, one of which was the Vizio D 4K. The problem has since been fixed.

Update 2017/03/10: Some PS4 Pro users have reported problems even with the latest firmware. Following this YouTube video seems to fix the problem.

I bought the Vizio D40u-D1 for gaming. Would I want reduce judder on or off? And clear action on or off?

For gaming you want reduce judder off as it adds motion interpolation. Clear action adds black frame insertion which makes the backlight flicker at 60 Hz. This reduces motion blur but the flicker may be distracting, so it's up to you if you want it on or off. Also change the picture mode to game, enable game low latency and use HDMI input 5 for lowest latency.